Maple Sap And Buds Question

PAHillbilly · #1 03/23/15, 04:22 PM

How developed due the buds need to be to signify the sap is no good anymore? Tiny red buds or more developed green ones? What if the sap is still clear? These are red maples I have tapped. I've noted some tiny red buds on some smaller red maples or those in areas with more sun exposure but not on my tapped trees, at least as of yesterday. Hopefully going out soon to collect for today. Don't want to waste my time making buddy sap... Thanks!

**highlands** · #2 03/23/15, 04:33 PM

I would keep going until you feel the resulting syrup tastes too 'buddy' - the flavor we call it. It isn't an exact thing because not all the trees in our sugar bush come to bud exactly at the same time. At the end of the season the grade of the syrup goes 'down' but it's still good for many things. The fancy gets sold to out of state, the dark we keep for ourselves. Flavor. Top-secret.

One difference is I tap Sugar Maples not Red Maples a.k.a. Swamp Maples a.k.a. Acer rubrum. My understanding is that the Red Maples are not as good for sugar production although they are used in some areas. I think part of that is sugar content of the sap and part I have been told is taste. In some places they tap other species such as Birch.

-Walter

stanb999 · #3 03/23/15, 06:50 PM

When the leaves are the size of a mouses ear.

PAHillbilly · #4 03/23/15, 07:01 PM

Yeah, the problem is I won't know if it tastes "buddy" until after I waste my time boiling it down

After going out today, I think there are some tiny buds on my trees, but the sap is still clear. So...to boil or not to boil, that is the question.

I'm off work 2 more days... I have so many other projects that require my attention. The good news is that my first batch tastes great! Better than the "real" maple syrup I've been buying at the grocery store.

Unfortunately, when I went out in the fall all I could find and ID for sure were red maples. I was hoping for some sugar maples on my property but didn't find any for sure. I'm an amateur, as you probably guessed.

**highlands** · #5 03/24/15, 07:55 AM

PAHillBilly, even if it does end up buddy after boiling we still use it in cooking. It has to be really extreme before I would consider it not worth using. As the buddy flavor develops I notice it and then at some point cut off the boiling.

Glad to hear your syrup came out great! The real stuff is sooo good.

-Walter